Rob Birdwell - musician, composer, arranger, songwriter, and founder of BirdwellMusic.com. Groups and collaborations include The Lubians, 5th & B, Sideways Portal, The Svens, Sandbox, The Blowholes, and other musical clans; this is where Rob toots his own horn and posts his musical musings, observations, rants, raves and, well, all things musical!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Preparing...what have I forgotten? Must remember clothes pins for the stands - it will probably rain too, but I can't control the weather...or can I? Got the t-shirts, festival passes...need to get some more parking passes for everyone in the band or figure out how the loading/unloading stuff will work...borrowed a 50" x 11" piece of wood from my neighbor - it's light and somewhat sturdy - it will serve nicely as my music stand extender. (The charts are long and page turns were ill-conceived!) Going to paint it some funky shade of blue from an old can of paint I found in the basement - will duct tape it first (wouldn't want it to look unprofessional!)...it's slightly ridiculous to need such a wide stand...oh well!

I started writing lots of little musical bon-bons when I was in Sweden last summer with my family. (I was inspired to try to put together a little on-again, off-again ensemble after hearing a concert in the park by the Benny Andersson Orchestra - what a great songwriter and composer!!) Anyway, I scribbled and scratched and clawed my way through the writing process which I so much love. A little ditty by the lake in Sweden turned into "Swedish Beach Party." Further explorations in the Autumn lead me to draw from a funny confession from my mom (a true beauty) a couple years ago which inspired "Grandma Was A Go-Go Dancer." Our sweet little puppy dog (who has chewed up several cables and at least one important mute of mine!!!) inspired "That Is Not A Chew Toy" - and there are others too, all with their own story, sometimes personal, sometimes random, with many more on deck in sketch form or simply in my head - other day. Saturday we'll perform the first nine. Come listen!

I encourage anyone who wants to perform this song for private/non-profit events to please feel free to do so - I only ask that you contact me when and where you performed it. Additionally, I'd love to hear a recording of your live performance (nothing fancy!) so record it if you can and send me a link! This is a simple sing-along song for everyone to sing and perform, regardless of musical ability. Simple percussion, gazoos, a guitar or two, voices...even a Flugelhorn, etc. will all work fine. Thanks. Rob Birdwell

For commercial use and/or commercial licensing of this song and/or the lyrics, please contact me.

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Rob Birdwell is a musician living in Corvallis, Oregon. Rob plays trumpet/flugelhorn, some tenor sax, piano, bass, percussion and vocals. He performs with a wide range of groups and artists: Dave Storrs, The Lubians, Sandbox, The Svens, 5th & B, Sideways Portal, and many others. He's a frequent guest-conductor for the Corvallis-OSU Symphony and has composed/arranged music for them as well.